Howida Moustafa

Teaching PhilosophyTeaching is my calling, although I need a degree for a career in teaching.This calling is one I strive to assume with imagination and love, and it is acontinuous adventure to discover new challenges. I always think how tomorrow Ican make my teaching better. I believe teaching requires the ability to create ademanding, fair, and unique learning environment, to have the ability to encouragelearning. I believe in what John Dewey said, Education is not preparation for life;education is life itself.My teaching evolved with my reading of theoretical and empirical texts, andwith a growing awareness I gained in my studies at Kansas State University. ThereI learned that no one method promises successful teaching, but many certain roadslead to effective teaching. As a teacher myself, I believe teachers should try todiscover what is most effective for teaching. Teachers should not seek generalmethods that provide complete mastery of teaching skills. Each teaching situationis unique, requiring unique approaches. In many respects, the teacher I am todayhas been shaped by my own education, which has equipped me with the tools tocreate learning opportunities of value and power. Teaching requires the essentialskills of creating of learning opportunities, facilitating interaction, developing andpromoting learner autonomy, activating intuitive heuristics, and forecastinglearning awareness. All of this has strong implications for what should occur in myclassrooms.I am mostly interested in developing students capacity to learn. Although itis customary to distinguish teaching acts from learning acts, I see teaching as anactivity that creates learning opportunities, empowering students to receive andacquire knowledge. However, I also believe creating learning opportunities is theresult of joint engagement in the classroom, so I treat classroom events that thestudent and I create jointly. Again John Dewey said it best: Education is a socialprocess; education is growth.My classroom is the place for demonstrating and exploring modes ofthinking and argument where students can see learn through interaction andexchanging information. Every student is unique, with diverse needs and interests,so I work hard to meet these needs. Second, my classroom is the place to ensurethat all students can reach their potential. An effective teacher assesses the needsand possibilities of a learning situation using creativity and practice.

I am an educator who believes in what John Dewey said: If we teach

todays students as we taught yesterdays, we rob them of tomorrow. I willcontinually modify my approach to find the best ways to teach in a world wheretechnology is constantly changing. I believe it is crucial to use technology toimprove educational strategies and maximize learning opportunities. As a futureeducator, I plan to not only provide a successful learning environment usingtechnology, but also follow innovations in education and incorporate them in myclassroom to provide my students with a 21st century education.